Tinder rapist jailed

Dad-of-two gets 7 years for attack in woman’s home

A MAN who raped a woman he met on Tinder in her home was jailed for seven years yesterday.

Thomas Markey, 33, was sentenced by Judge Geoffrey Miller, who divided the term equally between prison and supervised licence.

The judge said despite being convicted by a jury earlier this year of raping the woman in her home in Bangor, Co Down, in September 2020, Markey has shown no remorse and continues to maintain his innocence.

The father-of-two appeared for his sentencing at Downpatrick Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, via a video link with Maghaberry.

The court heard that Markey, from Torrens Avenue in Belfast, was arrested and charged with rape following an incident involving a woman he met on the dating app.

Markey and the 31-year-old woman agreed to book an overnight stay at a hotel in Belfast on September 19.

They planned to have sex for the first time while there.

Two days before the scheduled trip, Markey took the train from Belfast to Bangor and went to the woman’s house for drinks. He initially planned to get the train back to Belfast that evening, but as the night progressed a decision was made that he would stay longer so they could spend more time together and he would get a taxi back to Belfast early the following morning.

Whilst in the woman’s house, she drank between eight to 10 tins of beer whilst he consumed most of a bottle of Jack Daniels. During the trial, the jury heard that the pair “kissed and cuddled” for a short period before she went to bed and fell asleep.

In the early hours of the morning, she woke to find Markey on top of her, having sex with her. She told him to stop, but he continued.

Judge Miller said: “The jury rejected his account and unanimously convicted him on a charge of rape.”